Dice mat



S. GESSLER May 11, 1937.

DICE MAT Filed April 20, 1936 Z 6 m 0 a J Patented May 11, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DICE MAT tion of. Illinois Application April 20, 1936, Serial No. 75,455

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a dice mat.

More specifically, the invention relates to a mat of improved construction for receiving dice which have been shaken in connection with various games of chance.

While boardsor mats have been heretofore employed for receiving shaken dice they were of such construction that they did not afford the maximum requirements of devices of this general character.

Dice boards heretofore proposed or employed comprised a wood face covered with cloth; the board having square corners. Also rubber mats have heretofore been proposed or employed which included'guard rails or flanges at the edges thereof which were one half inchor less in height.

A dice mat in order to meet the maximum requirementsshould be of such construction that it will not mar a surface on which it may be placed, that it will be noiseless, that the dice will be positively confined to the mat when deposited thereupon, and that it will be easy to pick the dice up off the mat.

The dice boards as heretofore proposed having a wood face were not noiseless even though they were covered with cloth as more or less vibrations were transmitted from the cloth to the wood which in turn produced sound vibrations in the air. Furthermore, such boards were not provided with guard rails or flanges of suflicient height to positively preclude the dice from rolling off the board when discharged thereupon. Also in such previous constructions the square corners made it diflicult to pick up the dice from the surface of the board.

The rubber dice mats heretofore proposed while being more nearly noiseless than the wood-faced boards were not provided with guard rails or flanges of sufficient height to positively confine the dice to the mat when discharged thereupon.

A primary object of the present invention is the provision of a dice mat which fully overcomes the above-noted objections to dice boards and mats heretofore proposed and which meets the maximum requirements of devices of this general character.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dice mat which is of such construction that it will be noiseless in operation and will not mar the surface of an object upon which it may be placed.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a dice mat which embodies guard rails or flanges of such height that dice discharged upon the face of the mat will positively be precluded from rolling off and wherein all corners are rounded for facilitating picking up the dice from the board.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a dice mat which is neat in ap-pear- 5 ance, simple in construction, efficient in operation, and which can be manufactured and sold at relatively low cost.

With the above objects in view as well as others that will become obvious during the course of the following disclosure, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming part of same, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dice mat constructed in accordance with a preferred cmbodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view in a plane indicated by the line 2--2 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters and wherein like characters designate like 0 parts in the different views, M designates the mat as a whole and which in its construction comprises a main rubber body member ID and a felt lining II.

The main body member comprises a base i2 and unitary therewith a front guard rail or flange I3, a rear guard rail or flange I 4 and opposite side guard rails or flanges IS.

The base l2 may be constructed of any suitable dimensions as may be found most desirable but it has been found that 18" x 24 is most suitable for the requirements usually to be fulfilled.

The base [2 and guard rails or flanges I3, l4, and [Bare preferably constructed of rubber and are moulded as a unit, the guard rails or flanges 3 being integral with the base and in the construction of the main body member 10 all of the corners between the adjacent ends of the different guard rails or flanges are rounded as indicated at I6 for facilitating picking up the dice from the face of the mat.

While the guard rails or flanges are of substantial height in order to positively preclude the dice from rolling off the face of the mat when discharged thereupon it is to be particularly noted that the guard rails or flanges are not all of the same height for the reason that while it is highly essential that the guard rails or flanges be of substantial height at and adjacent the back of the mat it is essential that the guard rail or flange at the front of the mat be not of such height that would interfere with discharging the dice onto the receiving face of the mat.

In order to meet these essential requirements the rear guard rail'or flange I4 is as indicated of substantial height while the front guard rail or flange I3 is of substantia ly less height. The opposite side guard rails or flanges 15 as is more clearly indicated in Fig. 2 are preferably of the same height as the rear guard rail or flange [4 for a short distance toward the front guard rail or flange i3 as is indicated at I! wherefrom the upper edges of the side flanges taper downwardly to the top of the front guard rail or flange 13 as is indicated at I8.

With this construction of guard rails or flanges dice can be readily discharged onto the face of the mat over the relatively low front guard rail or flange l3 and the relatively highrear guard rail or flange H5 in cooperation with the rear high portions of the opposite side guard rails or flanges IE will maintain the dice within the confines of the guard rails or flanges and thus positively preclude them from rolling off the face of the mat as was an objectionable feature of boards and mats heretofore proposed.

The main body member it] being constructed of rubber the mat can be positioned on any highly polished surface without any liability of scratching or marring same and furthermore the rubber will act to absorb vibrations and thus deaden any noise that would be produced by dice striking a wood or other surface.

By the provision of the felt lining I I the mat is rendered still more noiseless and the felt lining further prevents the dice from rebounding when striking the face of the mat as well as providing a neat interior finish to the mat. The felt may be provided in any desired color as red, green,

etc. a

From the foregoing disclosure it will readily be seen that an improved dice mat is provided by the present invention which fully meets the requirements of devices of this character in that it readily provides for discharging dice upon the face thereof, positively precludes the dice from rolling off the face of the mat, provides for easily picking the dice from the mat, is noiseless in operation, will not mar a surface on which it may be positioned, is attractive in appearance, and can be manufactured and sold at relatively low cost.

While I have disclosed but a single specific embodiment of my invention same is to be understood as illustrative only and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being defined in the subjoined claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by U. S. Letters Patent is:

1. Adice mat for receiving dice discharged from a point externally thereof, comprising a horizontal dice supporting base, a rear guard flange of substantial height upstanding from one edge of said base, a front guard flange of substantially less height upstanding from the opposite edge of said base, and side guard flanges upstanding from the other opposite-1y disposed edges of said base and having the upper edges thereof merging into the upper edges of said first and second guard flanges; the front guard flange permitting unobstructed delivery of the dice thereover and onto said horizontal base, the rear guard flange together with adjacent portions of the side guard flanges arresting the movement of the dice and positively confining same within the mat, and the space within said guard flanges being completely open to said horizontal base for unobstructed delivery of the dice onto said horizontal base throughout the extent thereof.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein said side guard flanges are each of the same height as said rear guard flange for a portion of the length thereof, the upper edge of the remainder of the length thereof being inclined downwardly to the upper edge of said front guard flange.

SAMUEL GESSLER. 

